David Carradine

Highest Rated: 97% The Long Goodbye (1973)

Lowest Rated: 0% Fall Down Dead (2007)

Birthday: Dec 8, 1936

Birthplace: Hollywood, California, USA

David Carradine was born John Arthur Carradine, eldest son of John Carradine, the beloved and very busy character actor, whose roles encompassed everything from John Steinbeck's Reverend Casey to Bram Stoker's Dracula. David Carradine's early adult life was one of exploration -- though born in Hollywood, he tried on a lot of sides of living before he finally turned to acting as a profession. He worked with various community and semi-professional dramatic companies in San Francisco; hitchhiked his way to New York; did Shakespeare in Akron, OH, and parts of New Jersey; and all of the other things that aspiring would-be actors are supposed to do. He got a few early screen credits in television productions such as Armstrong Circle Theater ("Secret Document"), and in various series produced by Universal Pictures' ReVue television division, including episodes of The Virginian, Wagon Train, and Arrest & Trial, plus The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also made his big-screen debut thanks to Universal with a small role in the R.G. Springsteen-directed western Taggart (1964). His real professional breakthrough came a year later on the Broadway stage, however, in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, in a cast headed by Christopher Plummer. He enjoyed an extended run in the Broadway production, which was accompanied by the first round of publicity for Carradine, even then focusing on his unpredictable, iconoclastic nature. He was lured back to Hollywood by the chance to star in the series Shane, based on the George Stevens movie and the Jack Schaefer novel. He was able to put his own stamp on the role, quite different from the portrayal that Alan Ladd had delivered in the film; but the viewing public had been swamped by westerns for a decade, and the series never had a chance to find an audience, lasting only 16 episodes. From 1967 until 1972, he was occasionally seen in one-off roles in dramatic series such as Coronet Blue and The Name of the Game, and was in a remake of Johnny Belinda with Mia Farrow and Ian Bannen, but was most often seen in westerns, including The Violent Ones (1967) and The McMasters (1969) (playing a Native American in the latter). In 1972 he was approached about the possibility of starring in a proposed series that was easily the most offbeat western ever considered by a network up to that time: Kung Fu. The public had long since lost interest in traditional westerns, but here was a story that combined a quest with a tale of pursuit and necessarily included philosophical conflict never before addressed in series television. The role appealed to Carradine, and he got the part of Kwai Chang Caine, the Chinese-American hero, despite knowing nothing of martial arts. Drawing on his ability as a dancer at his meeting with the producers, he was able to prove with one well-placed kick at a point above his head that he could pull it off. The series ran for three seasons, during which time Carradine put an increasing amount of himself into the portrayal. And the public responded, especially viewers under 40, who resonated to the character and the man behind it. Kung Fu became one of those odd cult shows, the fans of which were devoted beyond the usual casual weekly viewing. Carradine saw to it, however, even during the run of the series, that he kept busy on other projects, including the Martin Scorsese-directed Boxcar Bertha (1972), starring his paramour Barbara Hershey, and small roles in the Robert Altman revisionist detective film The Long Goodbye (1973) and Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973).Kung Fu made Carradine a star, but he eventually left the series, owing to disagreements with the producers. His withdrawal from the series could have damaged his career, but Carradine was fortunate enough to latch on to a script that Roger Corman was planning to produce -- a new kind of action movie, Death Race 2000 (1975), became a huge underground hit and proved that Carradine had some measure of big-screen appeal. He followed this

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

		Credit
92%	Corman's World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel	David Carradine	$7.5K	2011
57%	Archie's Final Project	Jesse Gabriel Vargas	—	2011
63%	True Legend	Anthony, Gambling House Owner	$62.7K	2011
No Score Yet	Stretch	Monteiro	—	2011
No Score Yet	Richard III	Actor Producer	—	2011
No Score Yet	Eldorado	Actor	—	2011
No Score Yet	Dinocroc vs. Supergator	Jason Drake	—	2010
No Score Yet	Detention	Principal Hoskins	—	2010
No Score Yet	Night of the Templar	The Shopkeeper	—	2010
No Score Yet	Six Days In Paradise	Actor	—	2010
No Score Yet	Bad Cop	Humes	—	2009
No Score Yet	Long Shot	Ian McHenry	—	2009
No Score Yet	Break	Actor	—	2009
64%	Crank 2: High Voltage	Poon Dong	$13.7M	2009
28%	Chatham (The Golden Boys)	Captain Zeb	—	2009
No Score Yet	Camille	Cowboy Bob	—	2009
11%	Big Stan	The Master	—	2009
No Score Yet	Absolute Evil	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	The Rain	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Kandisha	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Road of No Return	Producer Mr. Hover	—	2009
No Score Yet	Starz Inside: Unforgettably Evil	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	The Rain	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Autumn	Phillip Evans	—	2009
No Score Yet	Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Kung Fu Killer	Crane	—	2008
10%	Hell Ride	The Deuce	$0.2M	2008
No Score Yet	Naked Movie	Actor	—	2008
No Score Yet	Tattoos: A Scarred History	Actor	—	2008
No Score Yet	All Hell Broke Loose	Actor	—	2008
No Score Yet	Being Michael Madsen	Actor	—	2007
No Score Yet	Fuego	Lobo	—	2007
No Score Yet	Permanent Vacation	Old Man	—	2007
0%	Fall Down Dead	Wade Douglas	—	2007
17%	Homo Erectus (National Lampoon's The Stoned Age)	Mookoo	—	2007
29%	How to Rob a Bank	Nick	—	2007
No Score Yet	Treasure Raiders	Actor	—	2007
2%	Epic Movie	Museum Curator	$39.7M	2007
No Score Yet	The Last Sect	Actor	—	2007
No Score Yet	Son of the Dragon	Bird	—	2007
No Score Yet	Final Move	Capt. Baker	—	2006
No Score Yet	Max Havoc: Curse Of The Dragon	Actor	—	2006
No Score Yet	World War I: American Legacy	Narrator	—	2006
No Score Yet	Last Hour	Stone	—	2006
No Score Yet	Miracle at Sage Creek	Ike	—	2005
No Score Yet	Kiss of a Stranger	Peter Dixon	—	2005
50%	Dead and Breakfast	Mr. Wise	—	2005
No Score Yet	Brothers in Arms	Driscoll	—	2005
No Score Yet	Criminal Desire	Actor	—	2005
No Score Yet	Ringers - Lord of the Fans	Actor	—	2005
No Score Yet	Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon	Grand Master	—	2004
No Score Yet	Last Goodbye	Fred McGillicuddie	—	2004
75%	Hair High	Mr. Snerz	—	2004
84%	Kill Bill: Volume 2	Bill	—	2004
No Score Yet	Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession	Director	—	2004
No Score Yet	UnConventional	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	Ringers: Lord of the Fans	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	Samurai: The Last Warrior	Actor	—	2003
85%	Kill Bill: Volume 1	Bill	—	2003
No Score Yet	Lost Bullet (Bala Perdida)	Actor	—	2003
No Score Yet	American Reel	James Lee Springer	—	2003
No Score Yet	Modern Warriors	Actor	—	2002
No Score Yet	The Outsider	Dr. Lucas Henry	—	2002
No Score Yet	Balto II: Wolf Quest	Nava the Wolf Shaman	—	2002
No Score Yet	Crime School	Actor	—	2002
No Score Yet	Out of the Wilderness	Actor	—	2001
No Score Yet	Warden of Red Rock	Michael Sullivan	—	2001
No Score Yet	Code Name Jaguar	Max Kaufman	—	2000
No Score Yet	An American Tail 3: The Treasure of Manhattan Island	Chief Wulisso	—	2000
No Score Yet	By Dawn's Early Light	Nick Decker	—	2000
No Score Yet	Nightfall	Gnomen	—	2000
No Score Yet	Down 'n Dirty	Gil Garner	—	2000
No Score Yet	Isaac Asimov's Nightfall	Actor	—	2000
No Score Yet	The Monster Hunter	Dehoven	—	2000
No Score Yet	Guaranteed on Delivery	Norman Williams	—	2000
No Score Yet	Dangerous Curves	Lemmy	—	1999
No Score Yet	Natural Selection	Actor	—	1999
No Score Yet	Cybercity	Actor	—	1999
0%	Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror	Luke Enright	—	1998
No Score Yet	Martial Law	Actor	—	1998
No Score Yet	The Rage	Lucas McDermott	—	1998
No Score Yet	Macon County Jail	Coley	—	1998
No Score Yet	The New Swiss Family Robinson	Sheldon Blake	—	1998
No Score Yet	Knocking on Death's Door	Actor	—	1998
No Score Yet	Last Stand at Saber River	Duane Kidston	—	1997
No Score Yet	Capital Punishment	Actor	—	1996
No Score Yet	Justice Est Faite (Justice Is Done)	Joe	—	1995
No Score Yet	Thunderbolt (Pik lik feng)	Actor	—	1995
No Score Yet	Dead Center	Chavez	—	1994
No Score Yet	Karate Cop	Dad	—	1993
No Score Yet	Kill Zone	Col. Horace Wiggins	—	1993
No Score Yet	Field of Fire	General Corman	—	1992
No Score Yet	Double Trouble	Mr. C	—	1992
29%	Evil Toons	Gideon Fisk	—	1992
No Score Yet	Distant Justice	Actor	—	1992
83%	Roadside Prophets	Othello	—	1992
No Score Yet	Animal Instincts	William Lamberti	—	1992
No Score Yet	Derrick contre Superman	Actor	—	1992
No Score Yet	The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw	Caine	—	1991
No Score Yet	Project: Eliminator	Ron Morrell	—	1991
No Score Yet	Deadly Surveillance	Lieutenant	—	1991
No Score Yet	Dune Warriors	Michael	—	1991
No Score Yet	Night Rhythms	Vincent Machelli	—	1991
20%	Waxwork II: Lost in Time	Beggar	—	1991
No Score Yet	Capital Punishment	Michael Maltin	—	1991
No Score Yet	Sonny Boy	Pearl	—	1990
No Score Yet	Future Zone	John Tucker	—	1990
32%	Bird on a Wire	Eugene Sorenson	—	1990
No Score Yet	Think Big	Sweeney	—	1990
No Score Yet	Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat	Mardulak	—	1990
No Score Yet	Midnight Fear	Sheriff Steve Hanley	—	1990
No Score Yet	Martial Law	Dalton Rhodes	—	1990
No Score Yet	Future Force	John Tucker	—	1989
No Score Yet	Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 2	Dark One	—	1989
No Score Yet	The Cover Girl and the Cop	Slade	—	1989
No Score Yet	Night Children	Actor	—	1989
No Score Yet	Crime Zone	Jason	—	1988
No Score Yet	Nowhere to Run	Harmon	—	1988
No Score Yet	I Saw What You Did (I Saw What You Did... and I Know Who You Are!)	Stephen Lancer	—	1988
No Score Yet	Wheels of Terror	Col. Von Weisshagen	—	1988
No Score Yet	Tropical Snow (Nieve tropical)	Oskar	—	1988
No Score Yet	Warlords	Dow	—	1988
No Score Yet	Six Against the Rock	Bernie Coy	—	1987
No Score Yet	Oceans of Fire	Actor	—	1986
No Score Yet	P.O.W. the Escape (Behind Enemy Lines) (Attack Force 'Nam)	Col. James Cooper	—	1986
No Score Yet	Bad Girls in the Movies	Actor	—	1986
No Score Yet	Kung Fu: The Movie	Kwai Chang Caine	—	1986
No Score Yet	Film House Fever	Actor	—	1986
No Score Yet	Armed Response	Jim Roth	—	1986
No Score Yet	The Warrior and the Sorceress	Kain the Warrior	—	1984
No Score Yet	On the Line	Bryant	—	1983
57%	Lone Wolf McQuade	Rawley Wilkes	—	1983
No Score Yet	Trick or Treats	Richard Adams	—	1982
69%	Q	Det. Shepard	—	1982
No Score Yet	Americana	Screenwriter Producer Soldier Director	—	1981
No Score Yet	Safari 3000	Eddie Miles	—	1981
No Score Yet	High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane	Ben Irons	—	1980
No Score Yet	Cloud Dancer	Brad Randolph	—	1980
83%	The Long Riders	Cole Younger	—	1980
No Score Yet	Gauguin the Savage	Actor	—	1980
No Score Yet	Mr. Horn	Tom Horn	—	1979
No Score Yet	Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider	Charlie Swattle	—	1979
43%	Circle of Iron	The Blind Man / Monkeyman / Death / Changsha	—	1979
56%	Old Boyfriends	Actor	—	1979
No Score Yet	Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel	Actor	—	1978
No Score Yet	Deathsport	Kaz Oshay	—	1978
24%	The Serpent's Egg	Abel Rosenberg	—	1978
57%	Gray Lady Down	Capt. Gates	—	1978
No Score Yet	Thunder and Lightning	Harley Thomas	—	1977
No Score Yet	A Look At Liv	Actor	—	1977
No Score Yet	That's Action	Actor	—	1977
86%	Bound for Glory	Woody Guthrie	—	1976
No Score Yet	Cannonball	Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman	—	1976
83%	Death Race 2000	Frankenstein	—	1975
97%	The Long Goodbye	Prisoner	—	1973
97%	Mean Streets	Drunk	—	1973
52%	Boxcar Bertha	Big Bill Shelly	—	1972
No Score Yet	Kung Fu	Caine	—	1972
No Score Yet	Macho Callahan	Col. David Mountford	—	1970
No Score Yet	Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring	Actor	—	1970
No Score Yet	The McMasters	White Feather	—	1970
20%	Good Guys and the Bad Guys	Waco	—	1969
No Score Yet	Young Billy Young	Jesse Boone	—	1969
No Score Yet	Heaven with a Gun	Coke Beck	—	1969
No Score Yet	The Violent Ones	Lucas Barnes	—	1968
No Score Yet	Bus Riley's Back in Town	Stretch	—	1965
No Score Yet	Taggart	Cal Dodge	—	1964
No Score Yet	Crime School	Actor	—	1938

TV

		Credit
6%	Mental 2009	Gideon Graham	2009
7%	In Case of Emergency 2007	Guru Danny	2007
No Score Yet	Celebrity Paranormal Project 2006	Reality cast member	2006
No Score Yet	Danny Phantom 2004-2007	Voice	2006
No Score Yet	Eve 2003-2006	Master	2005
84%	Alias 2001-2006	Guest Conrad	2004 2003
100%	Lizzie McGuire 2001-2004		2001
No Score Yet	Queen of Swords 2000-2001	The Serpent	2001
No Score Yet	Family Law 1999-2002	Andrew Weller	2000
No Score Yet	Charmed 1998-2006	Tempus	2000 1999
No Score Yet	Profiler 1996-2000	C.J. Allman	1999
No Score Yet	Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman 1993-1998		1997 1994
No Score Yet	Matlock 1986-1995	Steve Mazorofski Steve Mazarofski	1989 1987
No Score Yet	Saturday Night Live 1975	Host Guest	1980
No Score Yet	Kung Fu 1972-1975	Director Kwai Chang Caine Caine	1975 1974 1973 1972
No Score Yet	Gunsmoke 1955-1975	Clint	1971
No Score Yet	Night Gallery 1970-1973	Gideon	1971
No Score Yet	Ironside 1967-1975	Pogo Weems Frank Carlson Luke Roberts	1971 1968
No Score Yet	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues 1997	Kwai Chang Caine

QUOTES FROM David Carradine CHARACTERS

Bill says: Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.

The Bride says: Are you saying that I'm a superhero?

Bill says: No I'm not saying that you're a superhero but I'm saying that you're a killer, a natural born killer.

Budd says: I don't dodge guilt, and I don't jew out of paying my comeuppance.

Bill says: Can't we just forget the past?

Budd says: That woman deserves her revenge... And we deserve to die. (laughs) But, then again, so does she. So I guess we'll just see...Wont we?

Budd says: That woman deserves her revenge... And we deserve to die. [laughs] But, then again, so does she. So I guess we'll just see...Wont we?

Budd says: You tellin' me she cut her way through 88 bodyguards 'fore she got to O'Ren?

Bill says: Nah, there really wasn't 88 of them, they just called themselves "The Crazy 88"

Bill says: Nah, there really wasn't 88 of them, they just called themselves 'The Crazy 88'.

Budd says: How come?

Bill says: I don't know.. I guess they thought it sounded kinda cool.

Cole Younger says: "First getting shot, then getting married - bad habits."

Cole Younger says: First getting shot, then getting married - bad habits.

The Bride says: What are you doing here?

Bill says: What am I doing? A moment ago, I was playin' my flute. But this moment, I'm looking at the most beautiful bride these old eyes have ever seen.

The Bride says: Why are you here?

Bill says: Last look.

Elle Driver says: Are you going to be nice?

Bill says: I've never been nice my whole life, but I'll do my best... to be sweet.

Bill says: When I first saw him... I like his hair.

The Bride says: You promised you'd be nice.

Bill says: No, I said I'd do my best. That's hardly a promise.

Bill says: How do I look?

The Bride says: You look ready.

Bill says: Lucky for us all. That's not the case.

Bill says: Was my reaction really the surprising?

The Bride says: Yes it was. Could you do what you did? Of course you could. But I never thought you would or could do that to me.

Bill says: I'm really sorry, Kiddo. But you thought wrong.

Bill says: There are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard.

Bill says: I like his hair.

Bill says: You hocked a Hattori Hanzon Sword?

Budd says: Yep.

Bill says: It was priceless.

Budd says: Well, not in El Paso, it ain't. In El Paso I got me $250 for it.

Bill says: I suppose the traditional way to conclude this is, we cross Hanzo swords. Well, it just so happens, this hacienda comes with its very own private beach. And this private beach just so happens to look particularly beautiful bathed in moonlight. And there just so happens to be a full moon out tonight. So, swordfighter, if you want to sword fight, that's where I suggest. But if you wanna be old school about it - and you know I'm all about old school - then we can wait till dawn, and slice each other up at sunrise, like a couple real-life, honest-to-goodness samurais.

The Bride says: How did you find me?

Bill says: I'm the man.

Bill says: I was very sad. And that was when I learned, some things, once you do, they can never be undone.

Bill says: Baby, you ain't kidding.

Bill says: Just seeing those steps again makes me ache. You're gonna have plenty of fun carrying buckets of water up and down that fucker.